7 a.m.  I felt very good this morning and couldn't stay in bed.  I have been a little under the weather during the last few days after the trip to Idaho.

Ron (my ex-husband) and his wife Casey (whose father originally grew up in Idaho) moved to Boise from Silicon Valley a little over a year ago.  Their teen-age son, Max, likes the small town quality of life, and is just entering his Junior year in high school.  The high school is a classic white building with Doric columns.  I took a picture.  

Idaho is very beautiful--lots of rivers and streams that you can see as you drive. It's very western--log cabins, historical sites, hunting and fishing stores. Redfish Lake Lodge is very sweet and rustic.  We had 3 cabins, and I stayed in a room above the lodge.

The high points for me were being with the whole family.  We hung out on Sigrid and Jim's verandah in the evening, with the whole family telling stories, drinking wine, listening to the kids run in and out, (they eventually settled down in front of the portable DVD player that Gunther and Eliza brought--watching old Bugs Bunny cartoons. 

Another great memory is the afternoon when we rented two row boats with outboard motors--Gunther was in one with Anders, Trevor, and Chloe.  Sigrid, Jim, Max (16) and I were in the other one.  It was beautiful out on the lake--very misty over the mountains (wildfires had smoked the sky for a couple of days).  On the way back, we stopped the motors to enjoy the gentle sounds of the lake.  Then our motor wouldn't start!  Gunther and the kids sped away to get help.  About 30 minutes later, they came back in a speed boat, all excited at "saving your lives."  It was great that we broke down, much more exciting.

 Jim and Max went mountain biking and almost got lost!  Gunther took Anders for a two-hour walk and they found a magical old stick. Trevor, emerging from the safety of his seat on the bottom of the boat (first time on a boat), took the bow as head pirate.   Auggie went wading with Eliza in the cold shallow lake.  Chloe made mud pies and confronted the waves at the beach (remember how freaked out she was at the horribly crowded beach in Malibu last month?) Sigrid found the Visitor Center and got the kids to go for a bear information hike. Ron and Casey found all the good hikes, and went for a two-hour canoe paddle around the lake.

Luckily I had my camera as everyone else forgot to bring one!  Today I'll put my pictures into booklets to send to Ron and Casey and Sigrid and Jim.